The city of Venice in Italy has passed a law banning the terms “mother” and “father” on forms parents must fill out to gain a place for their children at publicly funded day care centres and kindergartens.  

The “civil rights and anti-discrimination” policy was introduced by city councilor Camilla Seibezzi, who said that such changes to language are a fundamental objective to combat stereotypes, local paper, Corriere del Veneto, reports.

“The [linguistic] construction forms a category of thought, a daily practice,” she said.

The terms will be replaced by “parent 1” and “parent 2”.

She told the Venetian daily La Nuova that same-sex families, not recognised in Italian law, are “the reality of our daily lives”.  

Ms Seibezzi, whose profession is city planning, was appointed by mayor of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, to head the newly established delegation for “LGBTQ civil rights and anti-discrimination policies”.  

The decision has provoked a backlash but Ms Seibezzi said. “My first choice is not to be ‘popular,’ but I am convinced that we have done the right thing.” She called the change “a very small step towards the civil rights of all”.  

However the move has received mixed responses from politicians, even from Mayor Orsoni, who said he had not been consulted. “I knew nothing,” he said.

The changes were hailed by Italy’s leading gay lobby group, Arcigay, as a major step forward and the group expressed their “solidarity, esteem” and “closeness” to Ms Seibezzi.